On politics in the Golden State

Gov. Jerry Brown closes Proposition 30 campaign with statewide blitz

November 6, 2012 | 11:00
am

Gov. Jerry Brown raced across California Monday in a last-minute bid to shore up support and stoke enthusiasm for Proposition 30,
his proposal to raise taxes and head off billions of dollars in cuts to public
education.

As detailed in Tuesday's Times, the five-city swing, stretching from San
Diego to San Francisco, underscored the precarious position of the governor’s
tax measure in the final hours of the campaign -- and its importance to his
governorship.

At several stops, he vilified an Arizona-based nonprofit
that gave $11 million to a committee opposed to his tax plan. Under orders from
the state Supreme Court, the group revealed Monday that it has ties to groups associated with the billionaire
brothers Charles and David Koch, who have poured tens of millions of dollars
into conservative causes.

“The billionaires aren’t going away. They’re getting more powerful
and more involved,” Brown told supporters at a union hall in Sacramento. “They
had to launder this stuff five times it was so dirty, and it still stinks.”

Brown, who campaigned on a promise to repair California’s finances,
has redoubled his efforts in recent weeks to pass Proposition 30. Recent polls showed
the proposal slipping below the 50% threshold, typically the death knell for tax
initiatives.

The governor spent the weekend in Los Angeles, where he rallied union workers
at a canvassing drive, made calls with volunteers at a phone bank and took to the
pulpit at four churches. In between events, the governor embraced Twitter
with gusto, encouraging his more than 1 million followers to vote and
highlighting support from labor leaders, lawmakers -- even Oakland native and
90s rapper MC Hammer.

Underscoring the lengths to which the governor is
going to win over voters, he dispatched his dog, Sutter, to campaign events.

Photo: Gov. Jerry Brown kicks off his campaign
for Proposition 30, a November ballot initiative that would temporarily
increase sales and income taxes, during a visit to New Technology
High School in Sacramento in August. Credit: Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press